Kanjurmarg dumping ground, Mumbai's third landfill site, should be ready for full use in October, BMC officials said.

The ground will receive 4,000 tonnes of the 6,500 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated daily in the city.

This will drastically reduce the pressure on Deonar dumping ground, which is slated for closure since 2011 but continues to accept around 5,500 tonnes of MSW daily.

Deonar will receive about 2,000 tonnes, while the Mulund dumping ground will continue to receive 500 tonnes.

"Eventually, Kanjurmarg's daily capacity will be raised to 6,500 tonnes. Once the garbage segregation plan for the city is fully implemented, we should be able to reduce the quantity by 35-40 per cent. Construction of a waste processing cell for regular use should be completed in the next two months or so," a senior official in the solid waste management department said.

The officials said a trial waste processing cell at Kanjurmarg, in use till recently, processed 2.87 lakh tonnes of garbage through the year.

"Instead of 500 tonnes, close to 2,500 tonnes of waste was dumped at the ground daily. The trial showed us the technology is a success. The new cell for longer regular use will similarly treat garbage and extract gas that can be used for energy generation," said the official.

Opening of the 65.96-hectare Kanjurmarg landfill comes after a delay of over seven months since its last deadline of December 2012.

In May, Bombay HC, convinced by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and Maharashtra Coastal Zone Authority that BMC was illegally depositing garbage on wetlands and mangroves near Kanjurmarg, ordered a stay.

Following this, the civic body wrote to the state government citing lack of space for garbage.

The official said, "The classification of a portion of the Kanjurmarg land as "wetlands" was disputed but the Ministry of Environment and Forests filed a favourable report after visiting the site. We are also in the process of getting permission for a change in waste treatment technology as this was another issue for HC. All loose ends as stated in the HC case should be tied in the next two months."

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